Top 10 Los Angeles Kings Playoff Series Part II

3 – 2014 Western Conference Final – “The Rematch” – Los Angeles Kings vs Chicago Blackhawks

On June 8th, 2013 the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings were eliminated in overtime by Chicago’s Patrick Kane.  It was pure heartbreak.  It felt even worse when Chicago ended up winning the Stanley Cup and becoming the envy of the

hockey world.  It was their second Cup in 4 seasons and this positioned them to possibly become the first modern-day dynasty since the “Dead Puck” era Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils.  A feeling of “it could have been us” by Kings fans was shared throughout the Kingdom but to be honest, the Kings were not going to beat the Hawks that year.  The Kings were too worn out and were the only team in the final four that year (LA, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh) to be limping badly into the Conference Final.  Chicago had won fair and square.  Then one year later came the rematch.

If I had to pick one Kings playoff series that is my personal favorite that isn’t a series where the Kings won the Stanley Cup, it is this one.  In my honest opinion, this is the greatest hockey playoff series of all time.  This series had two elite heavyweight teams in their prime with a recent championship history in a rematch where both teams were going toe to toe in an all out war of supremacy where the intangibles of both talent and will power of the stubborn players from both rosters would not give up an inch to the other from beginning to end. The 1993 Conference Final against the Leafs may have had the greatest drama and theatrics of all time but whether it was the frantic back and forth pace, the heart and the passion of both players, media and fan bases, the comebacks or the insane tension of such high stakes, this series was the best played hockey of the highest quality that I have ever witnessed in my entire life and I have seen A LOT of hockey!  This one was out of this world!

The Kings had just advanced to the Western Conference Final after winning another series for the second straight time in seven games.  As I previously mentioned in this 2 part article, both of those Game 7’s were played and won on the road.  Despite all the hockey the Kings had already played, unlike the previous year, the Kings were not limping into the Conference Final this time around. They were ready and hungry for another showdown with the mighty Chicago Blackhawks.  GM Dean Lombardi and coach Darryl Sutter fine tweaked the roster by adding sniper Marian Gaborik at the trade deadline and moving winger Jeff Carter to the “second” line center position and adding young and speedy wingers Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson to his flanks (and royally nicknaming them the catchy “That 70’s line.”)  Previous “second” line center Mike Richards was then placed as the “fourth” line center and this allowed the Kings to take full advantage of their depth by strengthening the forward lines not just right down the middle but from top to bottom.  As defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks had fantastic depth to their own credit and as a team already with experience defeating the Kings in the playoffs, this series was positioning itself as battle between an immovable object (Chicago) against an unstoppable force (Los Angeles).

Game 1 happened in Chicago less than 48 hours after the Kings had beaten Anaheim in California in game 7.  The Kings hardly had time to think, let alone properly rest and prepare before they had to battle the Champs.  Looking lethargic as expected the Kings lost 3-1.  It seemed to be business as usual for Chicago and Hawks nation when they also took a 2-0 lead in Game 2.  Even when the Kings scored in the final minutes of the second period, Chicago looked in total dominant control.  They weren’t.  Like in Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, during an intermission Kings forward Justin Williams delivered a speech to his teammates about how they needed to start playing their game and needed to take their game to another level in order to do so.  His teammates agreed and they delivered an embarrassing beating to the Hawks right in front of their shocked fans (and everyone else watching this game) to come back and win the game two 6-2!  The silence of the crowd was deafening.  Chicago NEVER, EVER gets beaten this badly at home in the playoffs so this surely had to be a fluke right?  Nope!  The Kings then won Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles by scores of 4-3 and 5-2 to lead the series 3-1.  It now looked like the Kings were going to finally get their 5 game revenge on Chicago for last year’s series and jump right back into the Stanley Cup Final but nope, wrong again because that’s when the sleeping giant Patrick Kane decided to wake up and make things a lot more interesting and painfully more nerve-racking for all of us in the Kingdom.

If any player had a knack for the dramatic, it is Chicago’s Patrick Kane.  A clutch and elite player when motivated, Kane was the one who drove the final nail in the Kings coffin the previous season and now he was hungry to do it again.  With Chicago in full desperation mode and no longer taking the Kings for granted, the Hawks showed the hockey world what they already knew and that was the Hawks were a pretty damn good and dangerous hockey team, especially with an alert and salivating Patrick Kane lurking around.  In 2 straight painfully close games, Chicago won Game five 5-4 in double overtime (with the game winning goal by former Kings Michal Handzus) and Game six 4-3.

Patrick Kane was all over the place and got 7 points in total in those 2 games only. The Kings were struggling to contain him and the comfortable 3-1 series lead the Kings had shortly enjoyed had now completely evaporated. Now the Kings now had to dreadfully play their third straight Game 7 on the road and had to do so against the toughest and most scariest team in the entire hockey world.  This is what dreams and nightmares were made of.

If the action of this series was so far compared to a volume dial that goes up to 10, then the volume of action of this Game 7 was about to reach level 100.  The Hawks exploded out of the gate and caught the Kings on their heels by scoring 2 quick goals to take the lead.  Before Chicago fans could fully gloat and get comfortable the Kings came back with 2 quick goals of their own by Jeff Carter and Justin Williams. Seconds after that Chicago came right back and scored to take the lead back at 3-2!  And this was all just in the first period!  It was enough to give anyone whiplash and multiple heart attacks as even legendary Hall of Famer and Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Bob Cole had to nervously ask, “What the heck is going on here!?!?”  History Bob, history is going on here so hold on to your seat!

The Kings then tied things up in the second period when Toffoli caught a loose puck before the Hawk’s defensemen did and he made them pay by putting it in the back of the net but things seemed tire for the Kings when Patrick Sharp retook the lead again for Chicago before the second period ended.  Kings nation didn’t know what to do or how to react so they just held their breath and believed while Hawks nation weren’t sure if they should now relax and feel confident since their team reliably kept regaining the lead in this tense, anxiety filled game or to be worried and nervous because this Kings team were acting like they were Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers (the famous slasher horror film monster, not the comedian actor who did Austin Powers) by always coming back from the dead and with a vengeance!  Those that chose to stay worried and nervous made the right choice.  The Chicago Blackhawks and their fan base weren’t used to facing a team that constantly and consistently bounced back to fight them toe to toe after a vicious beating. Normally a two goal lead or a lead in the 3rd period guaranteed a victory for them but these Kings were made of a different sort of something special and weren’t like any other team they have ever faced before … ever!  Like Rocky Balboa in the boxing film series “Rocky” they would constantly get knocked down but not knocked out. The Kings had an intestinal fortitude to get back on their feet and continue the battle with a furious fighting spirit (eye of the tiger), intensity and confidence that you could or would only really see in the movies!  (The brilliant Hockey God scriptwriter’s strike again!) And also like Rocky, the more the Kings bounced back into the fight the more his opponent wore out and started to fear this unholy beast of an opponent.  This was now happening to the Hawks and they didn’t know what to do?

In the 3rd period, the never say die Los Angeles Kings came back AGAIN when Captain Dustin Brown went on a mean-spirited and passionate mission to set up Marian Gaborik (who seemed to have flown out of nowhere again to get in position) to even things up, elevating the fears of Hawks nation and providing hope and awe to the Kingdom.  And in complete Hollywood storybook fashion, the Kings then made the impossible possible when defensemen Alec Martinez was handed the puck by the circling “Mr. Game 7” Justin Williams and put the puck into the net for the game victory, revenge series win and return to the Stanley Cup Final!  This made history as the Kings became the first team ever to win 3 straight Game 7’s and they did it on the road all three times!  For most franchises that haven’t won the Stanley Cup, a series this triumphant and entertaining would be number 1 on their top 10 list and who can blame them?  This was the most awesome hockey ever! Fortunately for all of us in the Kingdom, the best results was still yet to come … twice!